Oakland County alcohol enforcement officer retires after 33 years

Oakland County Sheriff's Office Deputy Lew Tyler is retiring from the force after 33 years. Tyler was an Alcohol Enforcement deputy for the Oakland County Sheriff's Office. (The Oakland Press/TIM THOMPSON)

After 33 years in law enforcement -- the majority of them pulling over inebriated drivers -- Tyler has retired.

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Throughout his career, his dedication has won him honors from his department, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, along with several from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

His last shift on the job, Independence Day night, was one of the busiest of his career, he said.

"It was wild ... it felt like the Woodward Dream Cruise," said Tyler. "Fireworks everywhere, crowds out on the street(s), the heat of the summertime and just probably the craziest night I've ever worked, with two arrests and a lot of other things that happened that night."

But for his efforts his last day, he did receive something of a trophy -- a half-gallon bottle of tequila he confiscated from a man's car in Pontiac. He said a driver who he believes was trying to step on his brakes most likely missed and hit the gas, crashing into another car near the Tonic dance club.

After investigating -- the man's blood-alcohol content clocked in at 0.16 -- and confiscating the booze, Tyler arrested the man. The case is still pending and the tequila has been kept as evidence, but Tyler said he doesn't think the man "will ever remember that night."

His continued passion and zest for the job -- he was recently spotted following up on paperwork at the Oakland County Sheriff's Office Thursday and Friday -- have been the reason for his many awards, said Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

"He's arrested drunks and a lot of them actually thanked him afterwards," Bouchard said. "If you can arrest somebody and they thank you, that's a pretty good measure of your smooth and skill. ... We certainly wish him the best."

Changing tides

Not everything was as tough as his last day, however. He said he and his officers would easily make more than 120 alcohol related arrests a year in the past 10 years.

With the whole of Oakland County set up as the jurisdiction for the Sheriff's alcohol enforcement team, Tyler said a typical Friday night shift would equal a 90 percent arrest rate.

"In my last 20 years, I hadn't lost a trial," meaning a conviction on operating while intoxicated charges, said the 61-year-old.

But with changing drug and alcohol laws through the years -- including medical marijuana legislation, making it legal for drivers with cards to drive while high -- have become somewhat problematic, he said.

However, even juries don't have sympathy for drunken drivers anymore, said Tyler, whereas 30 years ago they did. Legislation related to operating while intoxicated has changed and tightened in Michigan "every two, three or five years" since he started in 1980, he added.

But recent cries for changes in the state's legal limit to 0.05 are "in the all-talk mode right now," Tyler predicts.

There are so many factors when pulling drunken drivers over -- a 160-pound person can have four drinks and still get behind the wheel -- that a 0.05 limit would be difficult to show impairment at, as many drivers know how to compose themselves.

Neighbors, inventions and athletes

Tyler said he never smoked, but always kept a pack of cigarettes in his patrol car. His approach was to act like he knew the people he pulled over.

"I try to treat everybody like they were my next door neighbor. ... My first question walking up wouldn't be, 'How much have you had to drink,' it was usually, 'How are you doing?'" said Tyler, who noted his motto kept him out of the path of many an angry fist while pulling over intoxicated motorists -- many of whom would become easily agitated.

He has been scratched and knocked to the ground by a fleeing pullover who drove away, but no one ever threw a punch.

His sociable demeanor is most likely what prompted him to create something called a "puke box" -- simply a cardboard box in the back seat of his patrol car that was a courtesy for arrestees to use if they got sick.

"It was big enough so the average guy could hit it without missing it," said Tyler.

One man who Tyler arrested around ten years ago was so nervous about going to jail, he chewed through half the box.

"It was like he was chewing gum ... then he spit the pieces out into my car," Tyler said. "There were a dozen or more spit-balls of cardboard and the box was all chewed up ... I just figured he had no idea what he was doing."

Former Detroit Tiger Norm Cash and former Red Wing Steve Chiasson have also crossed paths with Tyler.

Tyler said that both well-known athletes were cooperative and polite and pleaded to their charges fairly quickly. But he noted the danger and irony of the situations because both passed away -- within a relatively short time period -- from alcohol related accidents.

"Alcohol is a drug," said Tyler. "It's a street drug that is manufactured and sold legally, but it is still abused, as everything can be."

Staff writer John Turk covers the Oakland County Board of Commissioners, police and general assignment. He can be reached at 248-745-4613.